Talks & Workshops
Beau has participated in numerous talks and workshops for a range of institutions and brands.
Check out highlights below.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Met Expert Talks: Beau McCall
Artist Beau McCall, also known as "The Button Man," explores the representation of buttons in The Met collection. View selections of McCall's work, learn about his artistic connection to Harlem, and gain an understanding of how buttons reflect a celebration of Juneteenth.
Museum of Arts and Design
In the MAD Loupe: Beau McCall
Check out a highlights reel from this talk between Barbara Paris Gifford and artist Beau McCall, as the pair talk about jewelry, fashion, and contemporary art, all made with buttons!
In the MAD Loupe is a series of talks hosted by associate curator Barbara Paris Gifford and access is free for all Members and Patrons.
Museum of Arts and Design
Teacher Workshop: OUT of the Jewelry Box
Check out this lecture and photos from an artmaking workshop by Beau McCall, whose wearable artwork Button Armor is featured in the exhibition, OUT of the Jewelry Box. McCall's lecture and workshop was for an audience of NYC educators and designed to help them generate new ideas to bring back to the classroom.
Museum of Arts and Design
Design Happy Hour with Beau McCall
Check out a snippet from Beau's button necklace workshop to celebrate National Button Day. During this workshop, Beau taught participants how to transform buttons into eye-catching jewelry pieces.
Museum of Arts and Design
Crafting Identity
Check out a snippet from this discussion featuring MAD Collection artists Beau McCall, Armarinhos Teixeira, and Sarah Zapata, moderated by independent curator M. Rachael Arauz. Recent acquisitions from these artists will be on view in Craft Front & Center (opening February 4, 2023), a multiyear exhibition showcasing the value of the handmade in a rotating display of historic works and contemporary acquisitions.
Museum of Arts and Design
Art & Conversation: Beau McCall x Alexander Hankin
Enjoy this conversation at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD Museum) with creative artist, Beau McCall and Alexander Hankin. Introduction by Barbara Paris Gifford, senior curator, MAD Museum. The conversation was in support of McCall's work featured in the group exhibition, OUT of the Jewelry Box. The event was held on May 15, 2024.
RISD Museum
Universal Fasteners: A conversation with artist Beau McCall
Check out Beau in conversation with Kate Irvin, Curator of Costume and Textiles, RISD Museum as they discuss his creative practice.
Peabody Essex Museum
Create Night: Walking the Runway of Love with Beau McCall
Check out a snippet from Beau's button necklace workshop. In this clip, participants walk the runway modeling the button necklaces they learned how to make.
Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library
Oral History with Beau McCall
Interview with Beau McCall, a New York-based artist, who shares his life story, which encompasses the loss of many friends to AIDS, his experiences in Philadelphia and New York within the drag artist and queer community, as well as his partnership and artistic journey with curator, Souleo. In this oral history, Beau McCall shares his story with executive director, Robert Kesten.
Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library
A Conversation with Beau McCall & Souleo
Presented in conversation with SNMA Executive Director Hunter O’Hanian, Beau McCall and Souleo celebrate the power of friendship and memories in the LGBTQ+ community during this talk for Beau McCall’s REWIND: MEMORIES ON REPEAT. McCall’s debut art book honors the legacy of ten of McCall’s deceased friends through collages composed of archival photos and images from his button artwork. The collages capture the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, from Philadelphia to New York, during the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the height of disco music and the AIDS crisis. McCall is joined by Souleo, guest editor of the book.
AARP, Encore.org & SAGE Center Harlem
LGBTQ+ Lessons on Creativity and Connecting Generations
Check out this recording of the virtual event, LGBTQ+ Lessons on Creativity and Connecting Generations. Inspired by Beau's artists' book, the event highlighted how creativity and intergenerational connections can help us to answer the following questions: How can creativity help us address life’s challenges? How can intergenerational relationships keep the creative juices flowing? What are the most creative solutions to the epidemic of loneliness and social isolation among older and younger adults? Particularly, what can we learn from the LGBTQ+ community on National Coming Out Day?
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco
Chosen Family: A Conversation about Queer Friendships in Art
Celebrate the power of “chosen families” in the queer community. These friendships often form some of the strongest bonds for those in the queer community as they come of age, seek to form their sexual and gender identity, and navigate being marginalized by society and/or rejected by members of their biological families. These friendships have led to the formation of houses in the ballroom scene, lifelong bonds, and the creation of art and archives documenting queer friendships.
Hear from artists and archivists who are honoring chosen families. Plus, we’ll share photos submitted by viewers of their chosen families.
Coming Soon!
Beau McCall: Buttons On! at the Museum of Craft and Design (San Francisco, CA).
On view May 10 through September 14, 2025.
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